


Save My Life and You're Responsible For Me (And That's Your Problem Now)

by Killbothtwins



Category: Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: (And destroy lives in the process?), Alien Cultural Differences, Are they telling the truth? We'll never know and neither do they, Gen, I attempt to reconcile several parts of Legends with Star Wars Canon, Including the Christmas special (I'm so sorry), Pranks and Practical Jokes, Twins, Vaguely references several parts of the extended universe, Wookie Life Debt, Wookiees (Star Wars), technically canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:41:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23834764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Killbothtwins/pseuds/Killbothtwins
Summary: Han and Chewbacca have a bond for the ages. But how did they meet? Depends on who you ask, and how funny Han and Chewie think the answer should be...
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	Save My Life and You're Responsible For Me (And That's Your Problem Now)

“How'd you two meet, anyway?” Lando asks, once their most recent job is done and they're all comfortably drunk in some shady cantina. They've worked a few jobs together since the first-- gotten into trouble a few times, gotten out of it and then back in. Han is deep in with the Hutts now and Lando’s starting something on Bespin which he refuses to admit is a scam. 

“Me and Chewie?” Han asks. “Feels like forever, right buddy?” 

“Way too long,” Chewbacca agrees in Shyriiwook. Lando does not speak Shyriwook. 

“Aww, that's nice,” Han says, patting his arm with what his drunken brain registers as gentle. He mostly misses the arm and tips into Chewie. “I saved his life.” 

“Did not!” Chewie says. 

“Uh-huh.” Han says. “I heroically infiltrated Imperial forces to rescue him. It was sad. But very heroic for me.” 

“I should have eaten you.” Chewbacca says. “You would have been crunchy.” 

“That sounds untrue.” Lando says. 

“No, it was real heroic.” Han insists. “In fact, he gave me a Wookie life debt.”

“A Wookie karking _what?”_ Chewie says. 

“A Wookie what?” Lando asks skeptically. 

“Life debt.” Han says, nodding a little more now as he gets into the creation of his story. “Yeah, it's a thing they do in Kashyyyk. You save their life, they pledge to stay with you forever.” 

“I’d rather kriffing die,” Chewbacca says. 

“It's why he's so protective of me.” Han says smugly. “He'd rip the arms off of anyone who tried to harm me.” 

“Is that true, Chewbacca?” Lando asks. He has yet to learn how to tell when Han is telling a load of bantha poodoo or if he's being genuine. The trick, Chewie has learned, is that Han is almost _always_ telling bantha poodoo. 

Chewie shrugs with a noncommittal grunt. The last part, _maybe._ He's thought about ripping Han’s arms off himself, once or twice. He's also very curious to see where Han’s going with this one. 

“That's not true.” Lando finally decides. 

“You don't believe me?” Han asks. "Chewie, rip his arms off.” 

Chewie groans in amusement and moves as if to stand up from his chair. 

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” Lando says. “How about another round of drinks for everyone, on me, eh?” He flees for the bar, cape flapping behind him. 

“I want dinner out of this too,” Chewbacca says. 

“Chewie’s hungry!” Han calls after Lando. 

“Meal’s on me!” Lando calls back. 

Han sits back in his seat, smug. “Now _no_ one's gonna mess with us.” 

“Except me.” Chewie says, and pushes him out of his seat. 

* * *

“I saved his life.” Chewie tells a group of enraptured young pilots. “When I found him, he'd been raised by Wookies.” 

“No!” Kes Dameron says, mouth open as it has been the whole story. 

“Yeah, could only speak Shyriiwook.” Chewbacca says, and C3PO dutifully translates. “It was so sad and cute.” He makes a warbling rendition of Han’s Shyriiwook, like a gundark gargling water. The pilots laugh in delight and surprise, leaning even closer to hear the rest of the story. 

“There's no way that's true.” Wes says. “He speaks Standard fine _now.”_

“Who do you think taught him?” Chewie asks. “Poor little guy thought he was a Wookie cub. I _had_ to take him in.” 

“That's so nice of you.” Shara Bey says. She, like the rest of the pilots, are hanging off his every word. “So you saved him?” 

“Yep. Poor kid said he owed me a life debt.” Chewbacca says solemnly. “I tried to refuse, but he was so helpless and insistent.” 

“Hang on,” Wedge says. “Isn't Han from Corellia? I'm from Corellia, and we don't have life debts.” 

Hmm. Chewbacca is stumped for a moment by the unexpected logic, until the princess Leia slides into the seat next to him. 

“He thought he was a Wookie, of course.” She says primly. “Of course he'd inherited the tradition of life debt. It's very serious on Kashyyyk.” 

The assorted pilots’ eyes go round and wide as they make noises of understanding. 

“Poor Han.” Wedge says. 

“Wow, great story.” Kes agrees, and they all shoot Han sympathetic looks across the room, where he's trying to shoot rations into Luke's mouth. 

“Princess, I love you,” Chewie says. 

“I know.” Leia says, and pats his furry arm. 

* * *

“Where's Chewbacca?” Luke asks, peering into an empty alcove in the Falcon. “I don't think I've ever seen you two apart for long.” 

Han grins from where he's laid out underneath an instrument panel with a soldering tool. “He's doing ancient Wookie rites in his quarters.” He's taking a shower, actually, because he claims that Hoth’s atmo makes his fur smell funny. He's not wrong. 

“Wow, really?” Luke asks. “I didn't know Wookies had ancient rites.” 

“That's racist, kid.” Han says. “Pass me the tape.” 

“Oh, sorry!” Luke says, and passes the tape. “What's he doing?” 

“Preparing, actually.” Han says. “Ya see, he's bound to me in the Wookie tradition, so he's gotta do ceremonies and stuff to renew the bond.” 

“Wow, that sounds serious.” 

“Sure is. They call it a life debt.” Han doesn't look up, because if he gets a glimpse of Luke's serious blue eyes, he'll laugh. “I saved his life once, you know.” 

“I always knew you had a hero in you.” Luke says earnestly. 

“Uh-huh.” Han says. “They write songs about me on Kashyyyk. Pass me the wrench.” 

* * *

“You've known them the longest.” Leia says on Endor. “Which version of their meeting is right?” 

“Hell if I know.” Lando shrugs, and dips his head so an Ewok can put a ring of flowers on it. “Do you two even know?” 

“Hey!” Han says. “Are you calling us liars?” 

“We're offended.” Chewbacca says. 

“So you really, actually, helped each other liberate a mining planet?” Luke asks doubtfully. 

“Hey, we actually did do that one!” Han says. 

“Ah-hah, so the others were fake?” Leia says. 

“No.” Chewie growls. “They're all true.”

“You told Artoo that you rescued Chewie when he was being sold as a pet to a rich lady.” Luke points out. 

Han snorts a laugh and tries to look innocent when Chewie glares at him. 

“And Threepio that Han was being held hostage by Imperial troops and you heroically left your family to save him.” 

“It was one of my better moments.” Chewie agrees. “Almost as heroic as the time I saved an entire Corellian orphanage. Han lived there, of course.” 

“Oh, that's a good one.” Han says. “Wish I'd thought of that.” 

“My favorite is the one where Chewie taught Han how to read.” Lando says. “I've heard that one both ways, actually. I think Han taught Chewie Standard once.” 

“So?” Leia asks. “We really don't get the real story?” 

“He owes me a life debt.” Han and Chewbacca say at the same time. 

“Is it a misuse of the Force if I try to use it to find out?” Luke asks. 

“No.” Say Leia and Lando at the same time. 

* * *

Leia and Han’s _real_ wedding had been done spur of the moment in mid-space, during a slight lull in a dogfight. Chewie had officiated with his authority as second mate, and had cried. Lando also cried, but he had been determined in his job as maid of honor— Han’s side, of course— and had only wept quietly into his bouquet. Luke was best man— Leia’s side— as well as the one who’d walked Leia down the “aisle” and, briefly, he was also the gunner. The dogfight wasn’t _completely_ over at the time. 

But now, for some reason, they have to do it “officially.” Chewbacca has no idea why. So now he’s trying to take a nap in the back staging room of a courthouse on Coruscant. 

Leia’s been having her hair braided since approximately yesterday, and Han had been ready in three minutes but then had been so thoroughly nervous that Chewie made him take off his newly pressed pants and go back to bed. C3PO and R2 are fully prepared for their duties as flower girl and ring bearer, respectively, which means that Chewie can send Threepio away as well before he starts annoying everyone. 

Leia and Luke join Chewie about a half an hour before the ceremony starts, just when Chewie is considering making Han put his pants back on. Leia looks beautiful, of course, absolutely resplendent in Alderaanian wedding braids and a sparkly white and silver dress. Her brother is less obviously dazzling, but Leia’s clearly dragged him to a tailor. Although he hasn’t bothered with the flesh on his synthetic hand— he says it’s itchy, for some unfathomable karking reason— he has conceded to wearing some kind of fancy bracelets over both arms, weaving up and down them like vines. 

Chewie roars his approval and pats both of their heads. 

Leia grins at him, apparently a little nervous herself. “Hello, Chewie,” she says. “Half the galaxy must be out there.” 

They’ve been filing in for hours now, representatives from almost everywhere, and what Chewie considers to be an excessive amount of politicians. He makes a non-committal growl in response. 

“I wish I had more family to be here,” Leia says, a little quiet. “You two and Lando and all the others from the Rebellion are great, of course—” Of course, all the surviving members are there too, and bound to be sneaking flasks in even as they speak. “But my father… my cousins. The people I grew up with in the palace.” 

Luke runs a hand over her shoulder to comfort her. 

Chewie gets an idea. 

“Oh, that’s all right,” he says. “We don’t invite family to weddings on Kashyyyk anyway. That’s how come my family’s not here.” 

They both turn to stare at him. 

“You have family out there?” Luke asks. 

“Of course,” Chewie says, puffing out his chest. “I comm them every life-day for the annual concerts.” 

Leia adopts a narrow eyed look that lets him know she’s not quite buying it yet. “What family do you have there?” 

“My wife, of course. My father. Oh, and of course my son,” Chewie says, and leans back against the wall with his paws crossed behind his head. A straight face is always the key. “How I miss Lumpy.” 

“ _Lumpy??”_ the twins chorus, now far too engrossed in the story to think about missing family members or the couple thousand people gathered to witness the wedding. 

“Of course,” Chewie says, and nods. “A good proud Wookie name. Had to leave him behind when I went with Han for my life debt, of course…” 

Luke laughs. “Aw, you almost had us!” He rams a shoulder against Chewie’s, an oddly Wookie sign of affection. “You do _not_ have a son called _Lumpy.”_

“Well, it’s short for Lumpawaroo,” Chewie concedes, which makes Luke and Leia fairly _howl_ with laughter. It’s about this time that Han wakes himself up and comes skidding out of the Falcon. 

“Where are my pants!” he yells, panicked. 

Luke, Leia, and Chewie all snap at him to close his eyes, even as Leia turns the other direction so she can’t see him. It’s bad luck on Alderaan for one partner to see the other’s wedding braids ahead of time. Han does, and Chewie hands him his pants, patting him on the shoulder. They’re formal pants, but they have bloodstripes up the side.

While Han struggles into them blindly, Luke apparently gets an idea. 

“Say, Han,” he says. “Chewie was telling us a story about his family on Kashyyyk.” 

“Uh-huh?” Han asks, then turns his pants the other way and keeps trying to struggle into them. Then he realizes what Luke said and grins. “What did he say?” 

“Well, he was talking about his son,” Leia says. 

“Oh, Lumpy?” Han says, which makes the twins lose their _vaping_ minds.

* * *

Chewbacca and Luke are halfway across the galaxy when Leia starts going into labor.

They'd have been closer, of course, but if Chewie had stuck around Han and his worrying for much longer, _someone_ definitely would have gotten their arms ripped off. Leia might have been the one to do it. 

They've been scouting out the weird kids for Luke’s school-- Chewbacca knows better than to ask for more details unless he wants a gushing four-hour speech on the Force-- but for now they're playing dejarik. 

Luke sits up suddenly from his lazy crouch against the seat. “Leia’s having her baby,” He says. 

“If this is a ploy to stop me from destroying you--” 

“No, we gotta go!” Luke hops the table in one graceful push, running for the cockpit. 

“She's not due for another week.” Chewie points out, shutting down the table and meandering after Luke. 

“C’mon, Chewie, hurry up!” Luke calls from the cockpit, already priming the engines. 

“I'm coming, I'm coming.” Chewie grumbles. “I hope the whole family's not like this.” 

“I heard that!” 

* * *

“I'm sorry, it's family only.” The nurse says at the door to the hospital room. 

“We _are_ family.” Luke protests. 

The nurse looks doubtfully up at Chewie. “You can go in, sir, but the Wookie stays out.” 

“I will rip your arms off and wear them as a backpack.” Chewie growls.

“What did he say?” 

“He said,” Luke lies, “That by Wookie law, he _is_ family.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“You ever heard of a Wookie life debt?” Luke asks, and barrels on before the nurse can think about it too hard. “Well, Chewbacca has one with Han, Mrs. Organa-Solo’s husband. Legally, that makes him family. I wouldn't want to talk to my sister, the _senator,_ about you discriminating against Chewie’s beliefs.” 

The nurse throws up their hands. “Fine! Go in. Whatever.” 

Chewie shows his teeth at the nurse as they open the door. 

“I told you they were coming.” Leia says from the bed, sweaty but very collected. 

“I believed you.” Han says from beside the bed, sweaty and not at all collected. “I was just wondering when they'd be here.” 

“You are very pale.” Chewbacca says. 

“Shut up.” Han says. 

Luke goes around to take his sister’s hand and takes the opportunity to push Han into Chewie. 

“If you faint,” Chewie says, “I’ll catch you. My life debt ensures it.” 

“Oh, shut _up,”_ Han says. 


End file.
